Update: this version of the story contains comments from company officials, about the anticipated merger of the two financial institutions and its impact on the Wilmington market.
Yadkin Financial Corp. and NewBridge Bankcorp announced Tuesday they have agreed to a merger in which Yadkin will acquire NewBridge, according to a news release Tuesday morning.
Raleigh-based Yadkin will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Greensboro-based NewBridge in exchange for shares of Yadkin’s common stock, the release stated, adding that, based on of June 30 financials, the combined company would have total assets of $7.1 billion. Yadkin will operate in all major North Carolina markets, “enhancing statewide presence in its existing footprint and expanding into the Piedmont Triad.”
Currently, NewBridge Bank ranks seventh in local market share and has nine area offices. Yadkin Bank, which entered the local market in the third quarter of 2014 through its merger with VantageSouth Bank, has three area locations and ranks 12th in local market share.
Scott Custer, Yadkin’s president and CEO, will be CEO of the combined company, while Pressley Ridgill, president and CEO of NewBridge, will be a consultant, according to the release. The new entity will operate as Yadkin Bank, Custer said.
The merger will be good for southeastern North Carolina, the two executives said during an interview Tuesday afternoon. The resulting bank will be a "sizeable financial institution that is doing great things with its customers and is committed to a community banking model," Custer said.
Paul McCombie, currently NewBridge Bank's sales integration manager and city executive for the coastal area, will continue to be one of the bank's "key executives," according to Ridgill, who added that other current team members will be part of the combined bank's area leadership as well.
"We don't anticipate any changes to the services" both banks provide, Custer said. "Hopefully, we'll have the same great people. Both companies are key members of the Wilmington market, are doing well and have good reputations. [The merger] will make us stronger."
Custer, acknowledging that Yadkin and NewBridge have "some overlap" in the greater Wilmington market, said that it is too early to know about possible branch consolidations. "We'll be making determinations as we go down the road, but I think most of the business both companies have today will be the business of the future."
Both men affirmed their belief that a larger Yadkin Bank will continue its focus on community banking.
"I don't think about a community banking model as being a function of size," Custer said. Instead, preserving a community banking model is about having local bankers keeping decision-making as close to the customers as possible," he said, adding "We are big believers in local; that's why we have both been successful."
The two banks have largely complementary coverage in the state, according to the release. NewBridge's has an especially strong presence in the Piedmont Triad and in southeastern North Carolina. It has a full-service branch also in Charleston, South Carolina as well as loan production offices in the Greenville, South Carolina area.
Yadkin's primary footprint includes the Charlotte metro area, the Triangle, western North Carolina and northeastern North Carolina.
"This is a very strategic deal for both companies, and positions us as the largest high-performing community bank in the state," Custer said.
The proposed merger has been “unanimously approved” by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016, subject to regulatory approval, the release stated.
